I’m spending the weekend at a knitting retreat. See you next week!
thrifty thursday: father’s day edition
I could have posted this last Thursday, when I actually found it, but that would have ruined my Father’s Day surprise. There are very few surprises around our house where gifts are concerned, so here it is a week late.
A few weeks ago my husband was looking for some shoe polish and I told him to check the pink wicker basket in the linen closet. Yeah, I know. A pink wicker basket doesn’t seem appropriate for black, brown and cordovan polish, wooden brushes and buffing rags. Then last week, while I was wandering around a church sale not really looking for anything in particular I saw this:
Now that’s proper shoe supply storage! I checked it over briefly. It looked ok from the outside. The inside appeared to be filled with old polish tins. I figured I’d throw them out and clean it up later. When I got home and had a closer look, guess what I found!
Not only was everything there, but it worked! I was pretty excited. I think for once I actually surprised my husband and he seems to really like it. Now the question is: how well does it work?
church sales: This year church sales have been mostly a bust for me. Usually they are filled with garage sale leftovers. I don’t know if people are holding on to things longer or they are selling more at their sales. I still go to them because they’re inside and it’s much easier to keep an eye on my daughter while I look around. Plus, there’s always such a wide assortment of things that get donated. You never know what you’ll find!
my creative space
In my creative space today I’m finishing up a messenger bag refashion for a friend. This was a really cool project and I’ll have lots more photos for you once it’s delivered.
Also a quick update on the Kind Diet. I haven’t been trying hard to avoid meat and dairy, but I’m finding it pretty easy and fulfilling to eat other things. I also loaded up on lots of wonderful veggies from the Farmers’ Market last weekend. Lunch today was tomato, hummus and grilled zucchini on whole grain bread. Yum!
I’m looking for more reading material on how the food we eat affects our planet. Any suggestions?
What’s in your creative space today? Join the fun over at Kirsty’s blog!
wardrobe refashion: another t-shirt
I have not abandoned my dream of many refashioned t-shirts. On a recent
I’ll admit I was feeling a little over-confident when I tried this refashion. Here are a few things I need to pay attention to going forward.
- Check the fabric! The original shirt is a 1×1 rib, the refashioned shirt is plain knit and has a lot less ease.
- Make a paper pattern! No matter how hard you try, knit fabric is not easy to trace.
- Err on the side of too big! Just a tiny bit extra seam allowance would have saved this project.
Honestly, it turned out pretty darn good. I was most worried about the sleeves and shoulders and they are just fine. It’s the rest of the body that’s a little tight. Too bad I didn’t baste and try it on before serging the edges. Doh!
stash: Sadly, I really did like this t-shirt. It’s from one of the worst Formula One races I ever attended. (The front reads “What Race?”) Ha! Guess it’s destined to be a tote bag now.
wool on a spool
Hey, y’all. Sorry for the blog silence. I didn’t mean to disappear. Last week was filled with Serious and Important Decisions. Some were planned, others were not. I was surprised that it affected my blogging because creativity and writing are usually how I deal with those kind of things. I did a lot of mindless crafts — thank goodness for charity blanket squares — and a lot of reading.
Since my last post, I’ve received some questions about my granny bookmark yarn. I can’t think of a better way to start up the blog again than to tell you about The Big Spool of Wool.
- It was gifted to me by my friend Lisa. I believe she bought it secondhand. (She’s a thrifty thrill seeker, too.)
- There is a lot of it.
- The label says it’s from Pendleton Woolen Mills.
- So far I have only wound off three colors: tan, navy and red.
- It smells a little sheepy, but in a good way.
- It’s rough to the touch, but after working with it for awhile, the lanolin makes my hands feel soft.
I have used it for packages, gift tags, bookmarks, flowers, vases and little boxes. I’ve just scratched the surface with this stuff. I wonder how long I can go before it gets passed on to someone else. Like I said, there is a lot of it!
granny bookmark and the kind diet
My little granny bookmark is finished. Actually, this is my second one. I gave the first one to my mom and now I’m working on a third. I went down a hook size since the first and I think I prefer the tighter stitches for this wool.
The book I’m reading is The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. I just happened to pick it up at the library because it was on display next to the knitting books. I had to give up beef and dairy once before when my daughter had an intolerance. I remember thinking how hard it must be to go vegan because you had to give up even more!
Her book got me thinking, though. Here I am trying to save all of these things from the landfill for a better earth. Then I go out and order a hamburger for dinner. The dairy and beef industry are definitely not nice to our planet! I might have to rethink how I spend my food dollars.
in search of: currently looking for an inexpensive, used version of this book for my home collection.
finished: beach blanket to go
I wrote about this blanket last year and I’m so glad it is finally in the hands of the married couple! I had hoped to take it to their wedding, but it was heavy. With the weight limits put on luggage — and extra fees — I figured it would make more sense to send it flat rate priority mail.
Then it got cold. We got a blizzard. My beach blanket mojo was kind of low. I figured they wouldn’t use it until next summer anyway.
Then all of the sudden it was warm. I had to finish it up and send it off before beach season!
I think everyone who gets married on a beach should have a personalized beach blanket, don’t you? You can find fabric and pattern details about this project in my original post.
my creative space
Today in my creative space is a little mindless crochet. I had started knitting my second charity blanket square (here’s the first one) and it just wasn’t turning out right. It may have had something to do with my daughter messing with my row counter, stealing my pattern and pulling stitches off my needles. I finally gave up and pulled out my crochet hook. She still tries to “help out” with it, but does a lot less undoing with this version.
This photo was taken at one of my favorite places: our screened-in porch. The evenings have been lovely for outside time this week. Speaking of lovely, you should check out the beautiful spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.
progress report no.2
I finished my floral shirt refashion and I’m really happy with the fit. Here are the refashion details:
- took in the sides to create a more streamlined waist
- finished the sleeves and neck with a rolled hem
- added a ruffle trim around the neck
Here is a close up of the ruffle. This was really easy and I’m totally loving it!
Sock update: Yarn is wound, pattern is picked and I got gauge on my first swatch. Can’t wait to cast on!
thrifted: Got this shirt at the thrift shop. I think it was worth the 99 cents!
progress report no.1
Yesterday I made some small progress on my to do list.
- removed the sleeves and collar from my shirt
- pinned and sketched a (rough) line for the new side seam
- chose some sock yarn out of my stash
Blog posts might be light this week, but I’m going to do my best to keep on track. Hope to post more progress tomorrow!